With a new political strategy, the games industry should finally catch up in an international comparison. In 2020, sales in the industry rose by 32 percent. A teenage boy with a hoodie eating chips and cola in a dark nursery and playing killer games while sitting in a gaming chair in front of the computer – that was still the cliché about gamers a few years ago: inside. But while the risks of computer games were still being discussed in Germany, other countries such as England and France were already investing in the industry. Germany was left behind, that’s why they need to put more effort.

Only five percent of the games industry sales in Germany were generated by German companies. The market is huge. In the past year alone, sales of 8.5 billion euros were made with software and hardware, a growth of 32 percent compared to the previous year. The proportion of gamers is growing especially in the older age groups.

Multiple strategic goals

On Wednesday, the federal government’s presented a new game strategy from the newly founded game department in Berlin. It consists of several strategic goals. First of all, Germany is to be established as a lead market for computer games. The aim is to support the market development for computer game production by promoting start-ups, for example. In addition, games should strengthen innovations in Germany. There are digital front runners in the games industry. The last point is about using the potential of games for society. For example, complex learning content can be made understandable in games. There are also games for dementia prevention that are used in old people’s homes or games for memory culture that are played in German museums.

Transferring technologies to other areas

In addition, the technologies that are being advanced by games can be transferred to other areas. Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and 3D simulations are not only used in computer games, but also in education and medicine, Repair & Maintenance, Design & Modeling, Business Logistics, Tourism Industry, Classroom Education, Retail, Field Service, Entertainment Properties, Entertainment Properties, and among other things. “Deutsche Bahn trainees are taught using virtual reality, among other things,” reports, Managing Director of the Association of the German Games Industry. “If we don’t always want to buy the technology from abroad at high prices, we have to strengthen local companies.” A new competence center was inaugurated in Düsseldorf on Tuesday, which is intended to serve as an interface between the video game industry and the classic industry. Despite good approaches, the new strategy is not yet sufficient to catch up with the competition, says Falk. “But it is a very important basis. The next federal government must bring these projects to life.”

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